NEW YORK CITY, N.Y. (SMU) – Sophomore Lucija Cvitanovic claimed SMU’s first American Athletic Conference individual title as she placed first in the pentathlon (3,854 points) as the SMU indoor track & field team competed on the first day of competition at the inaugural American Indoor Championships. The two-day meet is at the Armory in New York City, N.Y. The Mustangs currently have 44 points and stand first of 10 teams.

"We had a lot of solid performances today," Director of Track & Field Dave Wollman said. "We are looking for even more tomorrow to make for a great day as we are definitely in it to win it."

To earn the crown in the Pentathlon, Cvitanovic won (2:19.67) the 800-meter run, tied for first (1.73m) in the high jump, finished third (11.18m) in the shot put, fifth (9.14) in the 60-meter hurdles and ninth (5.15m) in the long jump. In addition, senior Lisa Egarter placed fifth in the pentathlon scoring a total of 3,793 points and notched her best finish in the high jump where she tied Cvitanovic in first place with a leap of 1.73 meters.

"Lucija has come a long way since she arrived at SMU," Wollman continued. "She has worked very closely with our sports psychologist, Deb Wade, to make her as strong mentally as she is physically. Her performance today was a tribute to the both of them and all the hard work Lucija has put in."

Junior Rayann Chin led the Mustang as she placed third with a mark of 19.18 meters in the weight throw. Senior Helena Perez finished seventh in the event as she recorded a throw of 17.90 meters. Each of these throwers will be back in action tomorrow in the shot put.

In the distance events on day one, SMU was paced by freshman Agnes Sjöström and sophomores Melanie Stemper and Shanoah Souza as the trio placed third (16:54.75), fourth (16:56.26) and fifth (17:06.04) in the 5000-meter run, respectively. In addition, senior Caitlin Keen and freshman Anna Nelson finished eighth (17:33.74) and 13th (18:17.48).

Cvitanovic, Chin, Sjöström and the women’s distance medley team all earned all-conference honors for finishing in the top three in of their respective events.

Junior sprinter Stephanie Kalu qualified for the finals in two events after finishing first (7.28) in the 60-meter dash and fourth (24.15) in the 200-meter dash. Her time in the 60-meter dash improved upon her own school-record time by one-tenth of a second. She also now ranks tied for seventh in the NCAA in that race. Kalu’s time in the 200-meter moved her into third all-time at SMU. The junior will look to win individual titles in each event in action tomorrow.

"Stephanie led us again and continues to run well," Wollman said. "Her performance in the 200-meter really made all of us proud as she competed hard and finished well above where she was seeded to finish. Those are the types of performances we need to win the championship."

SMU is back in action tomorrow to compete on the second and final day of The American Championship on Sat., March 1 with the field events beginning at 9:45 a.m. and the running events at 12:10 p.m.

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